The Deal
by GEMfaerie
Summary: A centuries-long war between the kingdom of Gravity Falls and Bill Cipher's Nightmares has made the King of Gravity Falls decide to seek a truce. In order to get back at an old foe, Bill agrees to peace but demands Mabel Pines in return. MaBill. AU. Rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

It's been a really long time since I've written fanfiction, but I've been reading a lot of MaBill recently and wanted to try writing some of my own. Enjoy! :)

* * *

The war between them seemed to have always been. Not a single person in Gravity Falls could remember how long it had been going on, let alone how it had started, though they had their theories. Though they were unsure of how the war began, one thing was clear: Bill Cipher, the chaos demon who ruled over the Nightmares, was insane. That was a simple fact. He took what he wanted, did as he pleased. He cared not for consequence; rather, he seemed to enjoy pain. Not that it mattered if he did or not. Cipher was indestructible.

It was because of that fact, as well as particularly bad casualties at a recent battle, that the King of Gravity Falls, Preston Northwest, decided to seek a truce.

Of course, not everyone in Gravity Falls was okay with this. Stanford Pines, a brilliant scientist and inventor, advocated strongly for further resistance. He had fought Cipher's forces for decades, even fought against the chaos demon himself. He was considered an expert on the Nightmares. When the announcement was made to the capital's most important family heads, Stanford Pines exploded into rage. "Peace?" he shouted. "Cipher knows no such thing! He'll murder us all before signing anything!"

But the other families were tired, and King Preston wanted to save his family's wealth. Continuously funding a war was beginning to drain the royal coffers. "Your vendettas will not take down this country," Preston declared. "Centuries of war has done us no good."

There was nothing Stanford could say that would change their minds. The announcement was made to the kingdom, and the next day the families stood waiting in the throne room for Cipher. The King and Queen stood regally with their daughter, Pacifica, in front of their thrones. The other families stood on either side. The people of Gravity Falls lined the sides of the hall, curious to see the creature that had caused so much death. Stanford glared as he stared ahead, waiting for that terrible demon to appear.

"Relax, Ford," Stanford's twin, Stanley Pines, patted him on the shoulder. But he too watched the doors.

Ford's eyes never left the door. "They don't know what they're inviting in," he muttered. "The capital has never dealt directly with the Nightmares, Stan."

"Worse case scenario, we take the kids and run," was Stan's response. The brothers glanced at their great-niece and nephew. Mabel, who was never one for serious situations, was poking her own twin brother, who was trying his best to ignore her.

The hall doors began to open, and everyone looked forward. Bill Cipher strode in with a few Nightmares just for show, a wide grin on his face. The demon took on a human form for the occasion, a top hat upon his blond head and an eyepatch over his left eye. He swung a cane around as he loudly exclaimed, "Woo boy! It's been awhile since I've physically been here!" He winked at a couple of people whose dreams he haunted. Stan moved in front of Dipper and Mabel.

King Preston gave Bill a smile. Despite this, Ford could tell that he, like everyone else there, was nervous. Guards were posted around the room in case Bill tried anything, including some guards dressed as common folk. "Bill Cipher, I trust that your trip here was fine?"

Bill floated up to the King, doing a few loops. "Terrific! I was only shot at twice! It felt great!" He laughed and leaned on his cane. "So, a truce, huh?"

"Uh, yes," Preston cleared his throat. "I want you and your Nightmares to cease attacking my people. In exchange," here he gestured to thirteen large chests, "I will give you-"

Bill cut him off with a laugh. "I don't want your gold." He snapped his fingers and the chests burst into flames. Several servants rushed forward to put them out.

Ford narrowed his eyes, "What do you want?"

Bill looked at Ford like a child seeing presents for them and grinned menacingly. "Sixer! Long time no see! How's the eye?"

Ford said nothing, but asked again through gritted teeth, "What. Do. You. Want?"

"Hmm, what to get for an immortal being of pure energy? A new castle? A pony? Teeth?" The demon's eye moved across the room. Finally, it stopped. But before Ford could follow what he was looking at, Bill turned to Preston, chest puffed out to imitate a gentlemen and donned a serious expression. "I will honor your demand, Good Sir. In return, I want her." He held his cane in his arms like a rifle and pointed it at Mabel Pines. Her eyes widened. Immediately Stan started shouting at the demon; for once Ford didn't try to stop his outburst. He himself was seething with rage at the thought of Bill even thinking of Mabel.

"You'll have her over my dead body!" Stan ran forward to punch Bill, who easily moved out of the way. Ford grabbed him from behind and pointed a gun to his head. The demon laughed. Bill's Nightmares moved forward to defend their King. Stan moved to defend his brother, as did Dipper. Mabel tried to calm then down.

"Guards!" Preston shouted. He pointed at Stan, who was then restrained. "Everyone needs to settle down." He gestured to Bill. "Will you swear to uphold peace if we give you the girl?" More shouts rang out in protest, but Preston raised a hand to silence them.

Bill crossed his heart and nodded, that wild smile never leaving his face. Blue flames engulfed his hand which he then extended to Preston. "Do we have a deal?"

The King took his hand.

Ford, Stan, and Dipper shouted.

Mabel sobbed.


	2. Chapter 2

The last 24 hours had been a blur. Mabel felt like she was floating, like she was in a terrible nightmare that refused to end. She was numb.

After that… that agreement was made, she had been whisked away from the throne room, away from a stunned crowd, away from Pacifica - her dear friend, away from her family. Mabel had never seen her grunkles (great-uncles - she and her brother came up with the term) cry before. Stan cursed wildly, struggling to fight his way out of the grips of the guards. Ford had fallen to his knees, a pained look in his eyes. Pacifica fainted. Dipper's mouth had fallen open. He tried to run to her when she was taken away but was prevented by guards.

This was the second to last thing that Mabel saw before she was gone from the throne room. The absolute last thing she saw was Bill Cipher's laughing face.

The next thing Mabel knew, she was sitting in one of the fanciest rooms she'd ever been in. Normally she'd spend time ogling the designs and colors and crystals, but her mind was still in the throne room. Still in that chaos. A maid came in to bring her a tray of food and some water to drink. Mabel nibbled on some biscuits and sipped some water, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to do much more than that. Gradually the enormity of what had happened began to hit her and she began to weep. It was at that time that there was a knock at the door. Mabel tried in vain to stop her tears and clean face. The door opened and Pacifica ran over to her and hugged her. Mabel's tears were like a waterfall.

"O-Oh Pacifica! I-I don't know w-what to d-doooo!" Mabel sobbed.

Pacifica bit her lip. She wasn't very good in normal sad situations. What was she supposed to say?

Mabel went on. "I-I'm never gonna see you o-or the grunkles or Dipper or W-Waddles ever again!"

"Y-You don't know that," Pacifica soothed. "I'm sure there's like, some kinda rule that says you'll be able to come and see us or that we can see you."

Mabel sniffed and looked up. "Y-You think so?"

Pacifica forced a smile. "Um, Yeah! Totally!"

Taking a deep breath, Mabel wiped her eyes on her sleeves. "What happened after I was taken out of the throne room?"

"Well, I think I was out for maybe like ten minutes or so, but when I woke up, all the peasants-" Mabel rolled her eyes. "- were gone. Bill Cipher had left somewhere too. Stanford was talking quietly with my dad, and Stanley was sitting in a chair with his hands on his face. Dipper was pacing back and forth," Pacifica said. The blonde princess sighed. "I don't know, everyone was like super quiet, in shock, I guess. I don't think anyone really knew what to say." Pacifica shook her head. "But yeah, so then Dipper marched over to my dad and started yelling at my dad. Stanford must have said something to him, I didn't hear what, but then Dipper quieted down."

"Are they all still here?" Mabel asked.

"I don't know," Pacifica answered. "I think they went to collect your things or something."

The brunette's face fell. "There's really nothing we can do, huh?" Pacifica shook her then Queen Priscilla came in and Pacifica had to go with her. She gave her friend a quick hug and left. Mabel was alone again.

She was left that way for the rest of the day, save for when maids brought her food, drink, and then at night, pajamas. Mabel was somehow able to fall asleep rather quickly. In her dreams, she was lost in the woods. Every path seemed to lead to nowhere. Sometimes she thought that she could see her family in the distance, but even if she ran, she couldn't catch up to them.

When she woke up in the morning, Mabel didn't know where she was. Then she remembered the previous day's events and felt like a great weight had been placed on her shoulders. She dressed in the dress hanging on the closet door and ate breakfast when it was brought to her.

Mabel looked out the window. Yesterday she had figured out that she could see almost all of Gravity Falls through it. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her arms. She hadn't even left yet and already she missed her family so much. Other than maids and Pacifica, she hadn't seen anybody. Where were they? If they were getting her things, did that mean she really had to go with the chaos demon? What did he plan on doing with her anyway? That last question brought tears to her eyes. Mabel just wished that yesterday had never happened. She wanted to go home.

"U-Um, Lady Mabel?" A maid was at the door. Mabel had never even heard the door open. " If you would please come with me." The maid, moved aside, waiting for the brunette.

Mabel got up and walked to the door, following the maid. As she walked through the castle halls, she thought about where she was going. Were all the arrangements already made? Would she even get to see her family again?

"Her questions were answered as she entered the throne room. "Dipper!" Mabel yelled as she ran towards him, nearly making him fall over with the force of her hug. "I missed you so much."

Dipper swallowed as he hugged her back. "I missed you too, Mabel."

"What, no hug for your favorite Grunkle?" Stan asked, the usual humor weak. Mabel ran over to him and hugged him and then Ford. She looked around and saw that apart from her family, the royal family as there, as well as Bill Cipher, who was watching them, particularly Ford, with an amused expression. He was the only one in the room that actually looked happy.

"Ahem," Preston interrupted. Stan and Ford glared at him, but the King didn't seem to notice. "Mabel Pines, in order to create peace between our kingdoms, it has been decided that you will be wed to Bill Cipher." Mabel felt a chill go down her spine. Dipper took her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back. Preston continued, "You have five minutes before you leave." He turned to speak to Bill.

Immediately Mabel turned to her Grunkles, a lost and scared expression on her face. Stan looked away. Ford rubbed the back of his head. "Mabel, I… I'm so sorry, but there's nothing we can do... There's nothing I can do." Mabel felt tears coming to her eyes.

"I'll figure something out, kid," Stan managed. "There's no way in hell we'll leave you with him."

Dipper nodded. "We might even be able to figure something out before the…" he trailed off, unable to get the word out.

"Wedding," Mabel finished quietly.

"Right," he choked.

The four of them all stood in silence. Mabel noticed Dipper trying not to cry, while her Grunkles looked down. Finally, Stan spoke up. "At least you'll get to bring the pig with you."

Mabel's head snapped up. "Really? Waddles can come with?"

Ford checked his watch and frowned. He moved closer to Mabel. "Mabel, listen to me, whatever you do, try not to anger Bill," he whispered. "He's given his word not to hurt you, but still, I don't trust him." Ford put his hand on her shoulder. "Promise me you'll behave." Mabel nodded.

"Mabel, I swear I'll find a way to save you," Dipper said seriously. He handed her a small notebook. "I was up all night last night compiling all the information you might need." Dipper shuddered and took a deep breath and hugged her. "Just please be safe."

Mabel no longer tried to blink back her tears, instead letting them fall freely. "I will," she promised.

"Time's up."

The brunette girl froze. "I don't want to go," she whispered to her family. Stan wrapped her up in a huge hug.

"You have to for now. We'll take care of things. Don't worry, pumpkin," he whispered. His voice cracked.

Pacifica hurriedly hugged Mabel. "Don't be stupid, 'kay?" Mabel nodded.

"Ready?" the King asked, uncharacteristically gentle.

Mabel looked back at her family, then at Preston. She nodded grimly. She had no choice. They all walked out to the waiting carriage. Bill Cipher hopped up inside and offered her his hand. Mabel took it cautiously. She was quickly pulled into the carriage, where Waddles as waiting. All too soon the door shut and her family began getting farther and farther away. Mabel couldn't help herself. She hugged Waddles close and cried.


	3. Chapter 3

Mabel slept most of the way to the Nightmare realm. When she awoke, it was dark outside. Small lights flew by. Groggily, she sat up and looked out the window. Her eyes widened and she gasped softly. As a child, whenever she had heard stories of the Nightmare realm, it had always sounded so terrible. Rivers of blood, man-eating trees, rocks that were secretly people but were shy about that fact so they killed anyone found out, disembodied toes that would whisper rude things about people behind their backs. The sky was supposedly a poisoned yellow, bloody red, or endless black. But when Mabel looked out the window of the carriage, what she saw wasn't so terrible. Rather, it was actually quite beautiful.

There was a blur of deep forest as the carriage sped on. Floating orbs of light were interspersed through the trees. There were lovely lakes and rivers. On their surfaces, the sky was reflected. Galaxies and stars twinkled in the night sky. The moon was huge here, and its edges shimmered and moved. Mabel saw a glowing white figure in the distance and her mouth dropped open. A unicorn! It looked at her and then ran off.

"Enjoying the view?"

Mabel turned around. Bill was looking at her with a grin on his face from his seat across from hers. She blushed, slightly embarrassed.

"You haven't answered," Bill commented.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's just that I've always heard that the Nightmare Realm is this horrible gorey place but this is actually really pretty and I wasn't expecting that and now I'm rambling…" Mabel trailed off. She was sure her face was getting redder each second.

Bill laughed. "Well, most parts are like that. But I figured you would enjoy this route." He snapped his fingers and a glass of champagne appeared in his hand. Taking a sip, he asked her, "Want anything?" Mabel shook her head and Bill threw the glass out the window. He leaned towards her, eyes faintly glowing light blue. "My dear Shooting Star," he purred, holding her hands in his. Mabel felt her entire face heat up. "We are to be married in two weeks. I want you to feel comfortable with me." Bill lightly kissed her hand and then let go of it, giving her a wild grin. He leaned back in his seat, the glass miraculously back again.

Mabel felt dizzy. What was that? Why was he being so nice? He was a chaos demon; a ruthless ruler who killed and ruined lives for fun. But, then, just then, she felt good. A romantic ever since she was a little girl, Mabel had always dreamed of one day marrying someone who doted on her and looked at her with such love in their eyes. She pet Waddles, looking absentmindedly out the window. She had promised everyone that she would be cautious of Bill, but she still couldn't shake the warm feeling she'd had.

Gazing out the window, Mabel began to see houses here and there, until finally the houses and other buildings were close enough to be considered a city. The streets varied in size, some being wide enough to fit Pacifica's castle in, others being so small that only small creatures could make their way through. The buildings varied just as much. The Nightmares of the city looked at the carriage curiously. Once they realized who was in it, they began grinning and yelling and running towards the castle. One Nightmare with particularly large teeth looked straight at Mabel. She repressed a shudder and moved away from the window. Looking across from her, Mabel realized with a slight panic that Bill had disappeared. Waddles looked at her curiously, tilting his head. He gently nudged her with his snout, causing her to giggle. Mabel pat his head. Her smile fell from her face. She was beginning to feel afraid again. "Oh Waddles," she whispered.

The carriage then came to a sudden halt. A crowd outside was talking excitedly, noisily, curiously (hungrily?) in many different strange tongues. She heard a loud voice - Bill - announce something; what it was, she couldn't understand. The crowd became even louder. Mabel's heart started pounding. She felt nauseous, dizzy, out-of-breath. She was able to handle Bill (how she wasn't sure; heck, she wasn't entirely sure she really could handle him), but all those Nightmares. All those teeth. All those claws. Mabel started shaking and she desperately wished for once in her life that she wasn't wearing a formal dress. She wanted one of her big, cozy, knitted sweaters. She wanted to curl up into a ball and go to sweater town - something she hadn't done since she was thirteen. Mabel closed her eyes tight and willed everything to just be a bad dream.

And then, miraculously, the noise dissipated. Mabel slowly opened her eyes. She was still in the carriage. She looked outside. They were parked in front of the most confusing building Mabel had ever seen. There was a grand set of steps leading to a large hall. Branching off of the hall in all directions was a maze of towers, halls, etc. Floating atop the strange structure was a large inverted pyramid. The sky above it was an odd mix of colors that constantly moved and shifted. Mabel groaned. Looking at the sky here was not helping her nausea.

The door to the vehicle opened. Bill offered up his hand. "We're home, dear." Mabel stood up slowly and climbed down with the demon's help. Waddles hopped out after her. "Your things have already been taken to your room," Bill informed her.

Mabel nodded, still trying not to look up. She looked at the stairs and her shoulders sagged. It wasn't that she couldn't walk. She and Dipper went on long 'adventures' in the woods all the time. But she was tired and still felt slightly sick. Bill seemed to notice this. He turned to her, took her hand, and suddenly they were in a large room. Bill gestured grandly. "Welcome, Mabel Pines, to the Fearamid's luxury room!"

"Fearamid?"

"You saw the castle, yes?" Bill asked. He didn't wait for her to answer. "The main part of it is the pyramid in the middle, a.k.a. the Fearamid." Bill looked at the door, then back at Mabel. "I have some business to attend to. Take some time to get used to your room. Don't worry about unpacking anything; it's all been brought up and put away." The demon walked to the door, stopped, and added, "You may roam around if you wish." And with that he left.

Mabel took a deep breath and looked around the room. The walls were light blue. A magnificent crystal chandelier hung over the middle of the room from a high ceiling. The floor was white marble; various rugs covered the floor. There were several large windows, a few bookcases, desks, shelves, a closet, etc. There was a large canopy bed. Mabel ran her fingers down the sheets, then pressed her hand into it. It was incredibly soft. She smiled, pleasantly surprised. Not even bothering to take off her clothes, she jumped onto the bed. She pat the bed so that Waddles would hop up. He did so and curled up by her feet. Mabel scratched his ears and then lay down. Her eyes closed and almost at once she fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
